Sports venues and amusement parks have video display screens generally located throughout. Most casinos have sports book areas, which feature a plurality of large television screens that receive video images from video cameras positioned to capture video images at diverse locations within sports venues. The audience of data from a typical sporting event can also generally view sports related data on large television screens located within sports stadiums. Feeds are additionally generally provided from the cameras to announcers in a broadcast booth, replaying certain plays from the event so that announcers can make comments about plays, and finally transmitting a telecast to the viewing audience located at sports venues and also sports book areas within casinos, the data including some aspects of captured video, team information and team/player statistics.
Despite the availability of such large screen television monitors, observers still lack enhanced viewing options or perspectives within venues. Furthermore, casino patrons are limited to viewing live sporting events on large screen located within sports book areas of a casino, therefore mobility of casino patrons and their ability to view sporting events is also limited.
The large television screens placed in a venue such as a stadium are typically linked to a server providing video from cameras that are fixed or mobile. Placement of cameras about the stadium was somewhat restricted as of the Oct. 26, 2000 priority date of this invention (“the priority date”) and they are generally in communication with an enterprise system. The movement of the game ball in a football game, for example, along with the players on the field is dynamic and unpredictable, and may not always be caught by the active camera having the best perspective. Thus, during a game, the large television screens typically provide only one view, which can further be obstructed by other players or officials, often destroying a critical angular view.
In addition, such large screens are often utilized to bombard audience members with information, such as advertisements, thereby cutting into venue activity video that venue audience members might otherwise wish to view such as instant replays, a current play or other event data. The audience members, therefore, essentially view the large screen at the behest of the camera operator or director and cannot select their own views or camera angles.
Based on the foregoing, the present inventors have found that such limitations in venue environments including casinos can be solved through the use of hand held devices, such as PDAs, hand held televisions, data/video-enabled cellular telephones, and other hand held wireless video-enabled devices. For example, the shift in the consumer electronics industry from an emphasis on analog technology to a preference for digital technology right around the priority date was largely based on the fact that the former generally limits the user to a role of a passive recipient of information, while the latter is interactive and allows the user to control what, when, and how he or she receives and manipulates certain information. This shift in focus resulted in the development and increasingly widespread use of a portable digital devices, largely after the priority date, with some generically referred to as of the priority date as “personal digital assistants” (PDAs).
Hand held computing devices (i.e., hereinafter referred to as “hand held devices” or “handheld devices”) are popular for storing and maintaining information. Although PDAs can be connected to a desktop personal computer or other PDAs via infrared, direct wire, or wireless communication links, PDAs and similar hand held devices can be linked to remote networks, such as the Internet, or local wireless resources, such as RF broadcasts, through available wireless communications techniques.
The most advanced data- and video-enabled wireless portable communication devices available in the marketplace as of the priority date take the form of a PDA or smartphone (e.g., Blackberry™). Unlike personal computers, which are general-purpose devices geared toward refining and processing information, modern portable communication devices are designed to capture, store, and display information originating from various sources. Additionally, while a certain level of skill is required to use a personal computer effectively, portable communication devices are designed with the novice and non-computer user in mind.
The present inventors realized that a solution to these shortcomings of data access at venues reside in the use of wireless hand held devices. By utilizing modern technology integrated with hand held communication devices, on-demand live action, multiple camera angles, instant replays, and real-time team and venue information can each be readily provided to venue attendees and casino patrons. Such systems can also provide venue attendees and casino patrons with increased mobility and freedom of use within and throughout venue and casino environments and to interact with enterprise hardware to include wagering (placing bets) on broadcasted activities.